Stanley 4 1/2 plane restoration - is it worth it?

[Eric The Viking]

Personally I much prefer using my 4 1/2 over my no 4, a little more weight to it and I find the extra width very useful, and I haven't found a need for anything bigger, all of that stuff is done by machine or power tools.

Same here.

It's the #5 that now gets little use, even though I've got a Japanese iron for it.

41/2 is the go-to for general smoothing, #7 for trueing.

E.

 

[lanemaux]

Very funny guys. I meant that I am 6 feet 3 and 255 lbs. Although it would be fun to have something like that in the shop, if only to cause people to stare in amazement. Just meant that the 8 is a fine tool and suits my size well.
On second thought, might not a 6 foot plane take up too much of my limited shop space? Maybe if I got rid of the washer and dryer (nah , SHE would never go for it).

 

[wood butcher]

In my working life i am a motor vehicle technician and have regularly welded cast exhaust manifolds on cars and then ground down to a smooth finish and lasted years. I beleive you can buy special rods or wire but i just used regular mild steel and v grooved the crack and welded it up.
Just a thought to stabilise it!

Craig

 

[Kev]

Adam,

For what it's worth I have just spent today playing around with an old No.3 and No. 6. never going to be worth spending any money on but perfect for a first attempt at a tune-up on a plane. Once they were done I have to say I felt quite pleased with myself at bringing something back to life (or at least less dead than it was) :?

For that reason alone I would recommend giving it a go.

 

[Aled Dafis]

I suspect I shall just have to wait until another secondhand 4 1/2 comes along or save up for a new one (shame LN don't do a bronze one in that size )....

Adam, you mean like this ...

Sorry .. couldn't resist. I'm sure some others here may have one as well.

Regards from Perth

Derek

That hurts!! I very nearly ordered one direct from LN, but the "sensible" voices in my head persuaded me that I didn't need it. I'll never listen to those sensible voices again!!

Cheers
Aled

 

[jimi43]

That is PURE tool eye candy there Derek!

What a wonderful piece of engineering and the bronze goes so well with the cocobolo!

It's what lotteries were made for! :mrgreen:

Jimi

 

[Kalimna]

Derek - very nice indeed
The 5 1/2 I have has the cocobolo handles, but much darker than yours. I didn't realise that LN did a 4 1/2 in bronze, thought it was just the 4..... Hmmmmm... Interesting

Well, I've started tuning it up - the sole is as flat as I can get it with wet n dry and a piece of 8mm glass, and I've ground a primary bevel on the blade (which has about 9mm from cutting edge to start of cap-iron-bolt-slot...)
Job for the weekend - file a back-angle on the mouth, adjust frog and hone blade... And hopefully get some whispy thin shavings along the line...

Thanks for all the advice - keep it coming, especially the gratuitous tool porn piccies Now, onto that darned LN website...

Adam

P.S - Jimi - given your ability to pick up potential beauties of the infil variety, Im not sure you need a lottery

 

[bugbear]

...adjust frog...

Be careful - the crack in the sole almost certainly comes from over tightening a frog that doesn't "fit" the sole casting properly.

The crack may lift a little, and need a gentle rub down after you tighten the frog.

BugBear

 

[Vann]

I didn't realise that LN did a 4 1/2 in bronze...

Unfortunately they don't. The bronze 4 1/2 was an anniversary special made a few years ago (2005?).

You'll have to settle for something smaller in bronze (or wait for LNs 50th anniversary )

Cheers, Vann

 

[Jacob]

.... the blade (which has about 9mm from cutting edge to start of cap-iron-bolt-slot...)

I don't often say this (first time ever) - but you need a new blade! Just a cheap one as it's a cracked plane to start with. To get that amount of wear takes thousands of hours of work (unless it was pre-owned by a crazy sharpener :lol: ) and perhaps your plane deserves to be retired.

Job for the weekend - file a back-angle on the mouth,

What on earth for? Why weaken it any further?

 

[Kalimna]

Bugbear - thanks for the tip, I hadn't thought of that.

Jacob - Ok, I'll see about getting a new blade then As for filing the mouth, I thought putting a slight angle on the front of the mouth, with the slope towards the toe of the plane - as mentioned in DC's book and various magasine articles....

Cheers,
Adam